Flight Safety Information September 13, 2010 - No. 191 In This Issue Plane Crashes in Venezuela With 47 on Board... Plane crashes in Venezuela, 2 confirmed dead Venezuela Plane Crash Lands, Killing 11, Injuring 23 People ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plane Crashes in Venezuela With 47 on Board CARACAS, Venezuela (Sept. 13) (AP) -- A plane carrying at least 47 people crashed shortly after takeoff Monday in eastern Venezuela, and an official said at least 23 people survived. The plane from the state airline Conviasa crashed about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz at about 10 a.m. (1430 GMT), Transportation Minister Francisco Garces told state television. He said the plane went down on the property of the state-run Sidor steel foundry. Rescue workers were tending to injured victims, and at least 23 survivors were taken to hospitals, Bolivar state Gov. Francisco Rangel Gomez told the Venezuela-based television network Telesur. Forty-three passengers and four crew members were aboard when the plane took off, Garces said. Garces said the plane was headed to Margarita Island when it crashed shortly after takeoff, for reasons that were unclear. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plane crashes in Venezuela, 2 confirmed dead (CNN) -- An airplane carrying at least 47 passengers and crew members crashed Monday morning in southeastern Venezuela, but there were survivors, government officials said. Twenty-three people were taken to hospitals in the city of Guayana, said Bolivar state Gov. Francisco Rangel Gomez. Of those 23 people, two died, said Yanitza Rodriguez, director of the Hospital Uyapar. The other 21 people were being treated, she said. The aircraft belongs to the government-owned Conviasa airline and crashed in Bolivar state, said civil protection official Jose Zamora of the Sidor municipality. Zamora also said there were survivors. The plane crashed 12 minutes after takeoff about 6 miles (10 km) from the airport in Guayana, said Rangel Gomez. Aerial photographs show it crashed in an industrial junkyard. A man who identified himself as Ivan Maradey told CNN he witnessed the crash and saw the plane tumble into some power lines before hitting the ground and exploding. There were conflicting reports over how many people were aboard. Francisco Garces, the Venezuelan minister of transportation and communication, initially said there were 43 passengers and four crew members. Rangel Gomez, the Bolivar state governor, said later there were 51 people on board -- 47 passengers and four crew members. The aircraft was an ATR42, a twin-turboprop, short-haul airplane built in France and Italy, Rangel Gomez said. Conviasa Flight 2350 crashed in an industrial zone in Guayana, the governor said. The officials made their comments on the CNN-affiliate Globovision TV station. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venezuela Plane Crash Lands, Killing 11, Injuring 23 People Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- A Venezuelan airplane carrying 47 passengers crash landed minutes after taking off from Ciudad Guayana, killing 11 people and injuring almost two dozen. Bolivar state Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez announced the deaths to reporters, local newspaper Diario de Gauyana reported. Rangel Gomez previously announced 23 injuries in comments carried by state television. The airport's control tower at Ciudad Guayana, roughly 330 miles southeast of the capital, Caracas, said the plane's captain reported problems controlling the plane shortly after takeoff, Rangel Gomez said. The ATR-42 turboprop aircraft belonging to the Venezuelan state-owned airline Conviasa was en route to Margarita Island when it crashed outside the gates of Siderurgica del Orinoco, Venezuela's largest steel mill, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Ciudad Guayana's airport, Rangel Gomez said. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC